Mexican museum theft tale a work of art

A parable about the plundering of a cultural heritage and one very thoughtless master thief, “Museo” comes to us from Mexico and director Alonso Ruizpalacios (“Gueros”). Based loosely on a true story of a theft that took place on Christmas Eve 1985 at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, the film stars Gael Garcia Bernal (“Y Tu Mama Tambien”) as wouldbe museum raider Juan Nunez. Slacker Juan is the weed-smoking black sheep member of a large family headed by his stern physician father (Alfredo Castro). A veterinarian student, Juan lives at home, where his mother (Lisa Owen) dotes on him. We know how crazy Juan is when he insists that his best friend Wilson (Leonardo Ortizgris), who is his sick father’s caretaker, shoot a Rubik’s Cube off his head with a bow and arrow. On Christmas Eve, Juan plans to go the museum with Wilson at midnight, break in and steal priceless jade and gold Mayan artifacts, using techniques he has worked out beforehand in his head. The surprise is that they succeed. What Juan has not worked out in his head is that he will never be able to sell the stolen items because the police will be hunting for them relentlessly. A tale of sin and redemption and the question of the ownership of cultural treasures in Mexico and other countries colonized by the Europeans, “Museo” boasts fine performances from Garcia Bernal and Ortizgris and Leticia Bredice as a hoochie dancer who spends a drunken night with Juan on a beach. If the film overstays its welcome a bit and if you grow somewhat tired of Juan, you are not alone. But “Museo” resonates with meaning and has a kicker of an ending.

(“Museo” contains nudity, drug use and alcohol binging.)